


down to the sleepy glow

by DeadlyNova



Category: Gorillaz
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Let Them Sleep, M/M, Nightmares, Noodle and Murdoc appear for only one scene sorry, Phase Four (Gorillaz)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-25 03:05:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14967767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeadlyNova/pseuds/DeadlyNova
Summary: Most people would probably laugh at the idea of a man approaching his 40's getting worked up over a little 'ole nightmare. Russel would probably have done the same, some years ago. But 2-D was a special sort of person, and he changed your mind about things like that.





	down to the sleepy glow

Russel only stirred slightly when he heard the noise at first, thinking he was imagining things. After a moment he heard the noise again; a quiet knock on his door. He groaned and reluctantly rolled out of bed. Whoever was knocking on his door at three-in-the-morning better be there for a good reason, or they were gonna get a real beating.

Russel opened the door, getting ready to tell off whoever was standing on the other side, but the words died on his lips and his eyes softened when they met a very frightened looking 2-D.

"Hey, 'D, what's up?"

"Hi, Russ..." 2-D glanced awkwardly to the side. He looked like he was about to answer, but he didn't really need to. Russel already knew. This was the third night this week that he'd come to him with this problem.

"Another nightmare, huh?"

Russel sighed and smiled at the other man before moving to the side so he could enter the room. Most people would probably laugh at the idea of a man approaching his 40's getting worked up over a little 'ole nightmare. Russel would probably have done the same, some years ago. But 2-D was a special sort of person, and he changed your mind about things like that.

2-D sat awkwardly on Russel's bed, twiddling his thumbs and staring down at his lap.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No, I-I don't fink so..."

Russel nodded slowly and crawled back into bed, sliding under the covers. "C'mon." He lifted them up, making room for 2-D underneath them as well.

2-D silently climbed under them, shimmying down the bed a bit so he could use Russel's arm as a pillow.

"Comfy?"

"Warm." Russel squeezed the other man tighter to himself and got comfortable.

"Glad to hear it. Goodnight, 'D."

There was maybe two, three, _possibly_ four seconds of silence before 2-D piped up beside him.

"Can ya turn on the telly or somefin? Me thoughts are all jumble-y, can't turn 'em off." 2-D made a wild gesture around his head with his arms, almost knocking Russel in the face due to their close proximity. The larger man chuckled and grabbed the remote, turning it onto some weird obscure documentary. The TV stations had a knack for showing those in the middle of the night. Probably because nobody actually wanted to watch them. Maybe it would bore 2-D to sleep.

He felt himself dozing off a bit before 2-D started to gently shake him.

"Russ! Russ!"

"Mhm...what is it?" Russel blearily opened one eye to look at the other man, who was still buried in the crook of his arm.

"They're talkin' 'bout cells! Said mito-..mito-" 2-D's face screwed up, a look of concentration coming over him. "Mito-somefin is power of a cell. Ya fink that means I can use it to charge me phone? I keep losin' the plug."

Russel stared at the blue-haired man for a moment. Was he still asleep or did 'D really just ask him that? He sighed. It was too late for this. Or too early. He wasn't really sure.

"No, 'D."

"Oh."

"Go to sleep."

* * *

"Sing into the bloody microphone, you twat!"  


"Leave him alone, Muds, he's tired."

2-D swayed on his feet in front of the microphone, attempting to use it to steady himself.

"Oh he's tired, is he? Well boo-hoo! He's gonna be real tired when I-"

Russel let out a low growl, effectively shutting up Murdoc.

"Maybe this isn't the best time for practice." Noodle stared at them from where she was perched in a chair in the corner of the room, leaning an elbow on her guitar. She looked like she'd made herself comfortable, like this had been going on for a while. It had.

2-D had not successfully kept up with the rest of them the entire time they had been practicing that day. Russel wasn't exactly sure what time it was he'd finally fallen asleep last night, or how well he'd slept before coming to his room. It was clearly taking its toll.

So, despite 2-D's weak protests that he was fine, they called off practice for the day.

And Russel decided he should drag 2-D back to bed for a nap. He could use one himself, too, after having his sleep interrupted last night. And several other nights before that. To be honest, he would never turn down a nap.

* * *

Russel half-carried 2-D to his own room, unsurprised at how little the man weighed. He couldn't help but wonder if it would be easier to just pick him up and fully carry him upstairs, rather than slowly walk alongside him with the taller man leaning onto his shoulder for support.

But by the time the thought had fabricated in his head, they were there. 2-D slipped away from him and faceplanted onto the bed.

Russel chuckled. "That's not a very comfortable way to sleep."

2-D mumbled something, but it was muffled by the fact that his face was pressed into the mattress. Russel fell back onto the bed himself, and 2-D immediately scampered up to lay beside him, not saying another word.

Russel closed his eyes, enraptured by the calm silence.

"Russ?" 2-D spoke very softly, but it was still enough to break the silence, nonetheless. Russel opened his eyes.

"Yeah, 'D?"

"Can I lay on ya like last night?" He rubbed his hands up and down his arms, a gesture to show that he was cold. "I's real cold in 'ere."

Russel brought a hand up to rub over his face, a bit exasperated. 'D always unintentionally found a way to make things hard on him, didn't he? You can only cuddle in bed with the person you secretly have feelings for so many times before it finally takes a toll.

But he couldn't say no. The younger man was looking up at him with pleading puppy dog eyes, which still managed to look strangely adorable, despite the fact that a lot of people found 2-D's eyes creepy.

"Go ahead."

2-D beamed at him as he rested his head on Russel's arm again before reaching down to pull the covers over the two of them.

He immediately fell asleep. Russel himself wasn't so lucky. He wasn't as tired as last night, so he found himself watching as his bandmate slept. He looked so peaceful, like he didn't have a care in the world, and Russel hoped it stayed that way. He didn't want to watch that face scrunch up in fear by because of another nightmare. He knew 2-D had been having a lot of those lately, even before he started coming to his room at night.

Russ found himself drifting away. Not to sleep, mind you, but further and further into his thoughts. How long _had_ 2-D been having these nightmares? Which of his many traumas had they stemmed from? Russel couldn't deny that he himself had been plagued by nightmares many times in the past, especially after....well.

It had been a long time since he'd had one, anyhow.

But 2-D's life had been filled with near constant trauma up until very recently. He'd barely had a peaceful day since Murdoc had come crashing, quite literally, into his life. Was that what his nightmares were about? Or was it one of the many other times he'd been severely injured or nearly killed by that...that-

Russel felt himself subconsciously tighten the arm he had wrapped around 2-D. Protective.

He wished there was something he could do. Other than just...be there. 2-D seemed to be sleeping better now than he had been for weeks. Noodle once told him that he had a very calming aura; she was an expert on such things. Russ wasn't sure if it was because the other man found him to be a calming or whether he just made 2-D feel safe. Maybe it was a combination of the two.

Positive effects on 2-D aside, Russ wasn't sure how good this would be for he himself in the long run. Now that Russ wasn't completely exhausted after having just been woken up, the younger man's presence made him feel a bit....nervous. It had been one thing to have him lay beside him on the other occasions when he'd come to his room, but it was completely different to have him laying _on_ him.

It was no secret to Russel that his feelings for 2-D had grown far from that of friendship in the past couple of years. It had always been easy to ignore. He knew the singer would never return his feelings, 2-D hadn't been in an actual relationship in nearly 20 years. He supposed that was understandable. Getting your heart broken was hard to recover from, even decades later. It wasn't like 2-D didn't have plenty of other outlets to indulge in his abundant sexual appetite. Russel had had the misfortune of interrupting him and many different strangers many different times.

Sometimes it was a bit...awkward for him, but 2-D's promiscuity was no secret, so he was never really too shocked when hearing or seeing such things.

Because of all of this, Russel never saw the need to pine. He could be content in their friendship. He could ignore his feelings. But 2-D constantly coming to his room at night was making things...difficult to ignore. And now, with him using him as an actual pillow, it was making things.... _impossible_ to ignore.

If he were a crueler man he would tell 2-D that he could not use him as a pillow. But he was not. He was simply far too nice for his own good.

Perhaps if he told 2-D the truth he would stop doing it on his own. But he also might stop coming to him with his problems. It might make him uncomfortable. Would he then go back to trying to deal with the nightmares on his own? Russel didn't want that, either. It seemed the only solution was to wallow in his own misery so 2-D didn't have to.

Maybe that was part of the whole 'too nice for his own good' thing.

Russel felt himself be brutally ripped out of his thoughts by the gentle placement of a boney hand on his chest. His eyes shot down to see 2-D's fingers splay out over him before they clutched onto the fabric of his shirt.

He glanced over to 2-D's face, worried that another nightmare had caused this. But his featured showed nothing but content. He was even smiling a bit in his sleep. A calm, gentle, serene smile. Peaceful.

It was at that moment that Russel decided that, if his heart had to suffer just a little bit for 2-D to sleep that peacefully, it was worth every minute of it. And if he got to see that calm, gentle smile, well, that was just a bonus. 

**Author's Note:**

> anyone else hate coming up with titles? for anything? fml


End file.
